Florida specialty crop farmers interested in producing blackberries can attend the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) blackberry field day at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC).
UF/IFAS faculty from Gainesville and from the center — along with a scientist from the University of Arkansas — will present updated findings at the meeting, from 9:15 a.m. to 3 p.m., May 25, at GCREC, 14625 County Road 672, Wimauma, Florida. Click here to register. Deadline to register is May 20.
Attendees will be able to tour the orchard at the GCREC.
“More growers are trying to grow blackberries or are increasing their acreage for commercial production,” said Zhanao Deng, a UF/IFAS professor of environmental horticulture at GCREC and one of the scientists trying to breed and grow blackberries. “Growers said they want more information on blackberry cultivars, horticultural practices and pest management to produce profitable crops.”
The team has packed several activities and informative talks into the day’s agenda, including:
- The orchard tour;
- A talk by world-renown blackberry breeder John Clark, a distinguished professor of horticulture at the University of Arkansas. Clark developed and released almost all the blackberries grown in Florida;
- Trial data and new findings from nine UF/IFAS researchers and Extension agents;
- Five Florida growers/companies will share their experiences and insights of growing blackberries for commercial production.
UF/IFAS researchers are researching new blackberry cultivars. They’re also studying how fertilizers, diseases, pests and weeds will affect the fruit’s yield and quality.
Blackberry breeding is not new to UF/IFAS. In the 1950s, UF/IFAS released two varieties, ‘Flordagrand’ and ‘Oklawaha.’ Both produced high yields of large, attractive berries, but their thorny canes made them unsuitable for commercial production.
For the current UF/IFAS blackberry program, Deng credits support from Florida growers and funding from UF/IFAS’ SEEDIT (Support for Emerging Enterprise Development Integration Teams) program. The Florida blackberry team also receives funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Florida Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and UF/IFAS.
“We hope to develop the Florida blackberry industry and help growers produce profitable crops sustainably,” Deng said.
